Mask Up

Visuals

Full mask
Damaged Full Mask
Man mask (left), Nature mask (right)
Closeup of the front left

 

Project Statement

This project focused on constructing a 3D form that masks or changes the body in some way. This “mask” or augmentation will be constructed according to a narrative (centered around a pandemic) that establishes its main ideas of it through the use of different planar materials and performance. I wanted to capture what I personally felt during the beginning of the pandemic. The fragile paper skin can be torn away to reveal a bright red paper flesh underneath, turning the mask from an abstract piece to something more representational. The wiring on the face is meant to be a vague portrayal of the person underneath, much like masks that we wear which cover half of our faces almost cutting us off from the people we meet. The mask is interactive as is Jessica’s which is something we established in the middle of the project. We wanted people to engage with our masks and relate to them as well.

 

Process

You can view a detailed project process at Mask Up: Process as well as my partner’s mask which you can find in Jessica’s Portfolio!

 

Reflection

This project was definitely a challenge in formulating a narrative which isn’t something we’ve really done in past projects. It was really engaging and it was satisfying seeing my notes and getting to actually see my ideas begin to funnel into what the mask actually became. All in all, I’m really happy with the outcome. There are some things I wish I did better like testing more with tissue paper which I felt was too transparent. Working with my partner was fairly easy as well, I felt like we were a good duo and were able to communicate our ideas free of judgment which is really important to me. A lot of our ideas focused on making sure we can communicate the meaning without having to explicitly state it, which is something I think our masks accomplish. The abstract nature of my mask was difficult to work around, but I think I found a solid in-between being representational in the form and abstract in its color and function of it. With how easy it was to communicate, I’m really proud of the narrative we were able to write and the outcome of both of our masks, and how they fully represent our respective themes.